Bullet Thoughts // 07.06.09

I walk on the right half of the sidewalk. I think this is preconditioned because I drive on the right side of the street here in the U.S.. If I’d grown up in England, where people drove on the left, would I walk on the left half of the sidewalk, I wonder?

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And speaking of right-and-left, when I fold my arms across my chest, the left is over the right. I’m right-handed. I wonder if other right-handed people fold their arms the same way I do. Or is it that dominant hands don’t determine this at all? Perhaps dominant brain hemispheres– right brained vs. left-brained– impact this somehow. I try to force myself sometimes to fold my arms with my right over the left, but I end up losing my balance and fall to the floor.

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I thank the heavens everyday for beer.

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This week, I’m going to be hanging out (for work) with a bunch of skateboarders, snowboarders, wakeboarders, surfers, BMX bikers, and other extreme sports athletes. For months now, I’ve tried to incorporate phrases like ‘rad’, ‘sick’, ‘dude’ and ‘killer’ into everyday vocabulary in preparation for their company. I would say stuff like, “This Americano is killer, dude.” or “The eucharist was so rad today.” Nothing’s coming out naturally so far, and I fear they’re going to think I’m a complete poseur.

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Why are we such creatures of habit? Is it the pure comfort that inevitability provides that draws us to the routine? We have two fitness centers where I work (yeah, I know) but I favor one over the other and already have my routines down– from the time I step foot into the gym to the second I leave. One day last week, on a whim, I tried the other gym. My patterns were so off that it took me a half-hour longer to do my workout. And, although this other gym had far superior equipment and facilities– thanks to a recent remodel– I’ve not developed any desire to try it again. I’ll keep going to my same gym, where I will work out on the same machines, use the same darn locker (A-108), and pretty much get in and out at roughly the same times every day.

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I want to own a dog again so badly, but I don’t know if I’m prepared to go through the growing pains again. You know, the whole potty training thing, and the separation anxiety thing, and the whole obedience school thing. I kind of want a dog that was maybe a couple of years old, that already knows that outside is where he/she needs to do the deed, and that there is no reason to bark at the door when I’m gone two minutes, and that the couch is off-limits. But, I sort of want to go through the puppy phase, when owner-pet bonding occurs.